Tun Razak who cancelled a plan
to build a swimming pool at his official residence would have recoiled in
horror at the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal and
government bailout when the money could be better used for the poor of all
races

________________Media Statementby Lim Kit Siang
___________________

(Petaling
Jaya, Sunday):A marathon 50-hour forum was
told yesterday why Malaysia’s second prime minister, the late Tun Abdul
Razak Hussein, had called off a plan to build a swimming pool at his
official residence.

Razak had felt that the estimated RM60,000 to be spent on the construction
of the swimming pool could be better used in building three rural health
clinics.

This episode from the past was related by Datuk Mohd Annuar Zaini,
chairman of the Malaysian National News Agency, Bernama, at the Merdeka
Forum "Sembang-Sembang Kopi `O' Nasi Lemak" organised by the Culture, Arts
and Heritage Ministry and the Federation of National Writers Associations
of Malaysia (Gapena) in kuala Lumpur.

There can be no doubt that Razak who cancelled a plan to build the
RM60,000 swimming pool at his official residence, would have recoiled in
horror at the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal and any
government bailout when the money could be better used for the poor of all
races.

The second Prime Minister would have been utterly shocked at the mentality
of the present batch of Cabinet Ministers in general and the Transport
Minister in particular who clearly had no notion whatsoever about
responsibility, accountability, transparency, integrity and good
governance as there had been no proper explanation whether to the
Malaysian public or to Parliament as to how such a RM4.6 billion PKFZ
scandal could have been allowed to happen when the government had been
assured right from the beginning that the PKFZ was a feasible and
self-financing project which would not require a single ringgit of public
funding.

I have no doubt that if the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal had happened during
Razak’s premiership, the then Transport Minister would have no choice but
to tender his resignation, especially when it was the Transport Minister’s
unlawful “letters of support” which had been used as government guarantees
to induce investors to subscribe to the RM4.6 billion bonds for the PKFZ
project.

A quarter of a century ago, the premiership of the fourth Prime Minister,
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, was marred by the then biggest financial
scandal, the RM2.5 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal which
Mahathir admitted was “a heinous crime without criminals”.

Are Malaysians to celebrate the 50th Merdeka anniversary in an
increasingly somber mood with an even bigger “heinous crime without
criminals” than the RM2.5 billion BMF scandal 25 years ago - the RM4.6
billion PKFZ scandal?

It was reportd by foreign agencies on Friday that at a meeting between the
Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the Transport
Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy late last Thursday, the Prime Minister
gave the green-light for a RM4.6 billion soft-loan to bailout the PKFZ.

Abdullah may have been persuaded personally to approve a RM4.6 bailout of
the PKFZ scandal, but the RM4.6 billion bail-out is not final unless and
until there is approval by Cabinet and Parliament.

As a Prime Minister who is committed to “hear the truth”, Abdullah must be
prepared to change his mind to approve a RM4.6 billion bailout of PKFZ if
the weight of public opinion is against it – even more so when there had
been no full parliamentary accountability and prior parliamentary
sanction.

I call on Abdullah to honour his undertaking to be a Prime Minister for
all Malaysians, and not just for MCA, Umno and Barisan Nasional cronies,
and this must be fully demonstrated in his fair and wise handling of the
RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal.

Is Abdullah prepared to respect the views of Parliament and withdraw any
blanket approval for the RM4.6 billion bailout of PKFZ, which will be a
blank cheque for waste and misappropriation of public funds, abuses of
power and all forms of malpractices?